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Apple released the first iMac on August 15, 1998—that makes this week the 20th anniversary of the often-divisive, always-popular, and ever-iconic all-in-one. That first iMac was a revolution in terms of design—an important part of the history of not just Macs but personal computing generally. But some of the choices Apple made haven't aged that well and were controversial even at the time.

It all began with the iMac G3, which was the first product created under the watchful eye of a returning Steve Jobs. Jobs resigned from Apple in the wake of a reorganization by then-CEO John Sculley in the '80s, but he returned to the company in the late '90s and oversaw the iMac and other subsequent successes like the iPod and iPhone. Jobs unveiled the iMac in 1998. His presentation is included below; the iMac reveal begins 16 minutes into the video.

Steve Jobs reveals the iMac.

Also notable, of course, were the commercials—in the past, Apple was known for its exceptional advertising campaigns. (Lately, not as much.) The iMac was introduced to the world in a series of TV ads featuring Jurassic Park's Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum shot several of them, which you can find on YouTube, but the most well known was probably the one titled "Step 3," embedded below.

Jeff Goldblum pitches the iMac.

Jobs and the advertisements positioned the iMac as a friendlier alternative to a sea of boring yet intimidating (and oh-so-beige) PCs. They weren't wrong; taking design and normal human friendliness seriously was a big deal at the time. We take that for granted now.

And because some things never change, Apple was yanking users back and forth on ports even then—the iMac G3 used the then-new USB, in contrast to prior Macs. It was also widely mocked for dropping support for the floppy drive. The design was praised by many (not all), but those choices left some users out in the cold. Sound familiar?

Several redesigns followed, and, over the years, most user complaints have been addressed, except for the use of discrete graphics and a lack of upgradeability. Now, one of the most notable things about the iMac has been how little it has changed in the past six years. The basic chassis design has remained mostly the same since 2012, but Apple has upgraded the display, ports, cooling systems, and internals.

The all-in-one form factor remains divisive today. It's popular with creative types and executives who care a great deal about ease of use and aesthetics. But it's not so popular with some others who lament that Macs have become increasingly difficult to service, upgrade, and modify over the years.

The frustration among some Mac desktop users culminated in 2013, when Apple revealed the infamous trash can Mac Pro. The company replaced its last traditional desktop with a radical design that bet on an architecture that simply didn't catch on. Desktop Mac power users were frustrated. To answer that frustration, Apple released the iMac Pro last year. It brought workstation components and performance to the line of consumer all-in-ones—but, again, the exterior design remained the same. (A revised Mac Pro is expected next year.)

All of this is to say that the iMac has always been controversial and mostly for the same reasons these past 20 years. But it has also been extremely popular. As I hang out with and work with creative types in California, there are long stretches of time when it is the only desktop computer I ever see outside of the Windows gaming PC in my own home. That's definitely not true everywhere, but the lack of change in the basic chassis can largely be attributed to the fact that those users love what the iMac already is.

At Ars, though, we've always sought to go deeper than aesthetics when talking about the iMac.

Ars Technica first launched only a few months after the original iMac. We've covered the machine over the years in news, reviews, and analysis as it has evolved into numerous forms. The mantle of Apple computer reviewer has passed from person to person over the years—Eric Bangeman, Jacqui Cheng, Lee Hutchinson, Andrew Cunningham, myself, and others interspersed. Just like you, we've all had different takes on Apple's priorities.

For a trip down memory lane, we've dug up a selection of reviews and photos from those reviews, ranging from the introduction of aluminum in 2007 to last year's iMac Pro.

We're not sure where the iMac is headed yet, but a 30th anniversary doesn't seem outside of the question, and you can bet we're looking forward to running future reviews and reading lots of passionate comments from Ars readers.

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Samuel Axon
Based in Los Angeles, Samuel is the Senior Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he covers Apple products, display technology, internal PC hardware, and more. He is a reformed media executive who has been writing about technology for 10 years at Ars Technica, Engadget, Mashable, PC World, and many others. Emailsamuel.axon@arstechnica.com//Twitter@SamuelAxon

fond memories of spending hours in the physics labs at uni (the only mac labs) using imacs(though the simulation software was slow, and others had to be run in dos box under windows running in virtual pc on the mac)

I still have a 1999 iMac DV SE sitting on a desk, mainly because I’m not sure what to do with it. Every once in a while I fire it up (offline only these days) when I want a reminder of how comparatively slow basic computing used to be.

I think we need to revive the colors. Bring back the fun in all-in-one desktop computing!

I'd kill to have a red Mac again. The original iMac and its successors in the same design iteration were so fun and whimsical – I'd love to have something like them back. The iMac designs that followed were also great, and I'm a big fan of them having owned several, but none of them had the same sense of whimsy that the original design held. Much like the original Macintosh design, really; there's never been a computer that deserved a smiling face as its boot-up screen more than the Macintosh.

I remember buying the first iMac, in blue, when I had my first job as a teenager. It was my first computer purchase. I brought it home, set it up and then realised: oh, wait... This doesn't play any of my games. I had just gotten into MMOs at the time (everquest) and had just assumed it would be able to handle it. Man, that buyer's remorse was real.

Fortunately, my mom was captivated by the thing, and had just purchased a PC, so we made the swap. I was now able to spend 2 years of my waking life raiding, and she was able to discover video editing through iMovie, using it faithfully for many years. It then went on to a family friend who used it for placing bets at the horse track, looooong after my PC was in the trash.

Man the marketing on that thing was slick.

Edit: forgot to add that though it wouldn't play any of my games, it did have two silly little games installed. In one, you were a raptor (dying pretty much immediately). In the other, you were a caterpillar wandering around in a lawn. I still remember the earworm melody of that one, and hum it every now and again out of the blue.

I think we need to revive the colors. Bring back the fun in all-in-one desktop computing!

I was as scornful of the colorful early iMacs as any apple-hating DOS & Windows user, but I remember the exact moment I had to set aside my derision and acknowledge that the iMac was a big fucking deal: it was when my highly-computer-averse mother announced one day that she wanted a green one.

That blew my mind, and made me realize that even though I thought the entire concept of the imac was stupid, it actually wasn't stupid at all. It was as close to objectively brilliant as it's possible for a product to get—at least from a branding and marketing perspective.

It's strange to think how controversial the original iMac was to the PC folks such as myself at the time. We berated it because it looked like a toy because we had beige metal boxes. And didn't come with a floppy disk in an era when floppy disks were still a thing (necessitating buying a USB floppy drive if you wanted to use it that way.) This new fangled USB thing was too immature to do anything all that useful. And this Firewire thing is never gonna take off (hey we got one right!) And the mouse looked like an ergonomic nightmare with a hockey puck shape.

I didn't see the big deal and mocked some of the PC makers that began to ape the look such as e-machines. It's been twenty years... I think I'm ready to say it was a big deal and did change the way we look at computers.

The original iMac was legion at the college I attended. They had to have bought thousands of them. Every lab, library computer, steep discount/payment program for students. Ultimately it was a neat but fairly crappy (in comparison to the homebuilt machines I was using personally) machine performance wise but what it solidified what Steve Job's genius was and the way Apple would operate for a generation.....do a couple things really well and simply, and market the bejesus out of those features as a lifestyle choice instead of a technical one.

How come PC manufacturers are not blamed when there designs don't change for many years. So what if the iMac hasn't changed physically in a while. That doesn't contribute to a performance or usability.

The G3 B/W is the one I really liked. I had one like 10 years ago as a loaner, should've bought it just as a decoration. What a pretty machine. Just perfect. Basically the first of the wave of great looking PowerMacs.

How come PC manufacturers are not blamed when there designs don't change for many years. So what if the iMac hasn't changed physically in a while. That doesn't contribute to a performance or usability.

Because unlike with Apple, most PC OEMs don't consider the physical design to be a primary feature. And correctly so, given the differences in targeted audiences between apple and dell. Obviously OEMs pay attention to their aesthetics and employ legions of designers, but no procurement manager at a fortune 500 company gives two shits about what the latest Dell Optiplex looks like.

We had one nondescript beige Windows computer before it, but the Bondi Blue iMac G3 was the first computer I have fond memories of. I used to just dig through the help files as a kid and learn about it, figured out for instance what a GPU was and the specs of them. Come to think of it, it really must have been the first machine to propel me into the compute field.

I'm still confused as to how Apple thought people were supposed to copy files to the original iMacs. There was no alternative provided for the removed floppy drive. Flash drives did not exist at all for about 2 years after it was released.

I actually still have one of these, I wanted to install Linux on it around 10 years ago because OS9 was outdated to the point of total uselessness then realized the CD drive didn't work anymore.

I'm still confused as to how Apple thought people were supposed to copy files to the original iMacs. There was no alternative provided for the removed floppy drive. Flash drives did not exist at all for about 2 years after it was released.

I actually still have one of these, I wanted to install Linux on it around 10 years ago because OS9 was outdated to the point of total uselessness then realized the CD drive didn't work anymore.

Same way you do now with Macs, dongle hell. USB converters for SCSI and such. Apple is good at creating a market for devices you never knew you needed.

Stupid bondi blue iMac. It took months of data collection to get Apple to acknowledge my iMac had a known cracked motherboard problem that would let me connect via dialup, then kick me off for 30 minutes until everything had warmed up completely. Not to mention their yo-yo power supply that self destructed. It was an artistic but near-useless piece of junk.

That's the thing—I made the switch from PC to Mac in 2007, and in those eleven years the number of computers I've had to buy has been pretty damn short. At least in my anecdotal experience, iMacs last a hella long time.

I bought a first-gen aluminum iMac in 2007 and I used it as my daily driver until 2009, and then it became my wife's computer and continued to work uncomplainingly until I retired it in 2015 (after helping out with the SSD trim portion of our El Cap review). That's eight years of daily use, and that's a damn good run for any computer.

I bought a first-gen unibody 27" iMac in 2009 and used that until 2013. The unibody 27" iMac then became my wife's daily computer until it finally died about a month ago. That's nine years of daily use and, again, that's a damn good for any computer.

I bought a new slim 27" iMac in 2013 and used that for my daily driver until the 27" unibody died literally just a few weeks ago—another nine year run. Now my wife has the slim 27" iMac and I've got a new iMac Pro on my desk because I just turned 40 and I wanted to splurge on something nice.

If I continue to get 8-9 years of heavy daily usage out of every Mac I buy, I'd consider that a pretty freaking solid ROI.

edit - corrected dates! had to go back and re-read some stuff and i had several of those wrong.

I remember well when the colorful iMacs first appeared.Wanted one for a long time, but they were just out of my price range.

Even more so as I had access to cheap PC parts to build and upgrade my machine.

Took me until 2006 to get my first Macbook Pro, which also taught me the first lesson of buying Apple products. Never buy an item that is a v1.0. It was one of the Macbook Pro with the thermal issue because of too much thermal paste. Over its existence it had the mainboard replaced, a battery recall, the replaced battery again replaced 2 times and its fans replaced. All of thi in the first 1.5 years of its existence.But after that it ran daily until 2012, when I had to replace it as the new Final Cut would no longer run on a 32bit machine. then still used it for a few more years to stream videos to my TV.So all in all after the starting issues it was a good machine.My mom has a Mac mini from 2007 that is still running.Would love to replace it but seems Apple just does not want my money as they refuse to release a new mini

The iMac G4 was one of the most fantastic looking computers I've ever had the pleasure to see. It's one of those products that really showed the quality of Apple. I recall the first time I moved it's display, how smooth and fluid the action felt. I'd been used to the cheap hinges on normal laptops or monitors that would always jiggle when you let go, and felt like a fight to get them to open up. It was just the staunch juxtaposition between those two simple experiences that left a lasting memory.

It was such a friendly and warm machine, even if the price tag wasn't!

I just had PTSD looking at the old iMac mouse. Whoever decided that circular mice with a single button were a good idea (both the engineer and the manager who approved) must have been absolutely out of their gourds on some mysterious powder.

There's a conspiracy theory about that puck mouse... and I think there is some credibility to it (as is the case with these theories or they wouldn't exist). At the time, there were VERY few USB devices. A handful of PC's had a couple of USB ports, but they were unloved. It was also a dismal time for Apple, and hardware manufacturers had little faith in the company. Kensington and Addesso were the two prominent companies. The theory is that Apple had an interest in providing a marginal (or less) mouse so that if the product was a success (it was), there would be a market for 3rd party companies to at least write Mac drivers for their existing devices, and maybe even develop full on new products for the new Macs. Whether it was intentional or not, it worked. Within a year there were a lot of USB options that would not have been available if Apple had provided a decent mouse. That mouse was so much worse than all of its predecessors, the theory does kind of makes sense.

There's a conspiracy theory about that puck mouse... and I think there is some credibility to it (as is the case with these theories or they wouldn't exist). At the time, there were VERY few USB devices. A handful of PC's had a couple of USB ports, but they were unloved. It was also a dismal time for Apple, and hardware manufacturers had little faith in the company. Kensington and Addesso were the two prominent companies. The theory is that Apple had an interest in providing a marginal (or less) mouse so that if the product was a success (it was), there would be a market for 3rd party companies to at least write Mac drivers for their existing devices, and maybe even develop full on new products for the new Macs. Whether it was intentional or not, it worked. Within a year there were a lot of USB options that would not have been available if Apple had provided a decent mouse. That mouse was so much worse than all of its predecessors, the theory does kind of makes sense.

I don't buy that for a second. A far simpler explanation is that Sjobs just really loved how it looked and said "I'm Steve Jobs and this is the mouse we're gonna use."

I've got a new iMac Pro on my desk because I just turned 40 and I wanted to splurge on something nice.

Okay Lee, I was allowing you the HomePods. In fact, I almost posted to say you didn't need to justify the purchase — it's okay to just get them. But this iMac Pro is a bridge too far. Come on man, it's not like you hit 50.

Regardless, welcome to the other side — and enjoy your tools and toys. No justification required.

Also, if you guys want a real blast from the past, I've dug up what I believe is Ars' very first iMac review—from October 1998.

1) That design is a real blast from the past. The DS9-esque font in the logo really puts it over the top.2) This quote:"...but the Macintosh puts many barriers in the way of the power user: proprietary hardware, weak or nonexistent upgrade paths, and an OS that can't run the latest games."

There's a conspiracy theory about that puck mouse... and I think there is some credibility to it (as is the case with these theories or they wouldn't exist). At the time, there were VERY few USB devices. A handful of PC's had a couple of USB ports, but they were unloved. It was also a dismal time for Apple, and hardware manufacturers had little faith in the company. Kensington and Addesso were the two prominent companies. The theory is that Apple had an interest in providing a marginal (or less) mouse so that if the product was a success (it was), there would be a market for 3rd party companies to at least write Mac drivers for their existing devices, and maybe even develop full on new products for the new Macs. Whether it was intentional or not, it worked. Within a year there were a lot of USB options that would not have been available if Apple had provided a decent mouse. That mouse was so much worse than all of its predecessors, the theory does kind of makes sense.

I don't buy that for a second. A far simpler explanation is that Sjobs just really loved how it looked and said "I'm Steve Jobs and this is the mouse we're gonna use."

Do you think Sjobs liked using that mouse though? It wasn't just completely non-ergonomic, its round shape meant you couldn't tell how it was oriented under your hand. And being wired, the wire often made it turn a little bit, so when you tried to move the cursor up, it would go left or right (to a degree). The 2nd revision of the mouse added an indent to the button that made it easier orient, but even that was flawed.edit: format (i've been using slack too much) and grammar

Ahhh yes. I remember working as Tech Support Manager for ClubMac (old Apple retailer in Irvine California - you know, how Macs got sold before the Apple Store put them all out of business). The number of phone calls from confused Mac-faithful about floppy drives, the lack of Apple DataBus ports.....yeah, we were pretty busy.

Still, that thing saved us for a while. iMacs were our bread and butter until the PowerBook G4 lit up the sales lines again.

Loved my G3 iMac (400mhz graphite slot loader), I still remember the first time I fired up Myth 2: Soulblighter having only played it up until that point on a 133mhz Performa beige monolith, was a revelation.

I also loved the keyboard and puck mouse; I got ridiculously good at Unreal Tournament on single life last man standing instagib matches with that love/hate mouse.

But I just can't justify all-in-ones anymore, especially modern iMacs; you pay such a huge premium for those screens. Yes they're nice, but I want to upgrade my CPU and/or GPU a lot more often than I want to upgrade my screen. Unfortunately that's not really possible in any current Mac range; if they would just update Mac Minis in line with iMacs it would be so much easier to stay in the Apple eco-system.